Volume 1 Chapter 5: Dungeon「Satou here,
I was very fascinated by a dungeon game in my father’s collection when I was little, which was probably the reason I went into the game industury. I’ll never forget the triumph I felt when I obtained a super-rare sword in that game.」
I check the Map, which merely displays “Demon’s Dungeon: Lowest Floor” but does not reveal the paths.
Anyway, for a simple tour of the city to suddenly turn into a dungeon exploration campaign, if this were a tabletop RPG, it would make me worry about the Game Master’s state of mind.
I should at least take care of that first.
Let’s start with introducing myself.
“I am Satou, traveling merchant.”
“Dog nano desu.”
“I’m Lizard.”
Are those names?
The Dog Ear and the Cat Ear girls have been slaves since infancy, while the Reptilian only became one after coming of age, so she does have a proper name, but it is long and full of fricatives. Quite a mouthful.
Liza’s name doesn’t come from “Lizard”, but from the first two syllables of her real name. 1
I take out some towels and the waterskin from my bag, as well as the medicinal ointment. It was meant to be a gift for Martha and company, but I can just buy more later.
“Wash and disinfect your wounds with water and this cloth, then apply the ointment and wrap them up. Don’t reuse the same cloth you used for was.h.i.+ng, okay?”
The three look confused after being given brand new towels.
Ah, okay. I’m getting the vibe that, in the beginning, if I don’t order them around whenever I talk, they’ll only make blank faces in response. This reminds me of when I took care of a relative’s children.
“What is it? I’ll turn around when you treat your wounds, don’t worry!”
Turns out they’re not embarra.s.sed, but rather surprised about being given quality cloth and ointment.
“Thank you, nano desu. It’s okay if you don’t turn around, nano desu.”
“Um…the medicine and water, sir, if it was for yourself…um…it would be better if…”
Pochi and Tama undo the linen bands tied at the waist of their s.h.i.+rts, undress without a care, and start the treatment.
Pochi sports a brown bob-cut, while Tama has short white hair, and Liza tied up her waist-length red hair at the back.
Like the other two, if you don’t look at her beautiful tail and the orange scales on parts of her body, Liza is no different from a human woman.
As the three finish their treatment, I distribute some pastries. Though these are just pastries, each of them got three palm-sized ones, and should be enough for now. These pastries were bought as gifts when Zena and I went on the tasting tour.
Pochi stares at them drooling, but no one makes a move.
“Don’t be reserved, eat!”
They can’t eat without permission? Like I thought, these slaves were mistreated.
“Delicious—”
“So-, so sweet, so delicious.”
Pochi chokes, and I pa.s.s the waterskin to her.
“I won’t take it away, so take your time.”
I kinda feel like a babysitter.
“So there were pastries made with honey…”
Liza seems to be stunned, quite an overreaction for just pastries.
I check the Map again and still, outside of this chamber, nothing is displayed.
I open the Menu and cast “Full Map Exploration”. If this doesn’t work, do I have to explore the paths myself?
Now then, despite showing every last path of the dungeon, a flat map is hard to understand, so I switch to 3D mode. In strategy games like WW, elevation is an essential element to victory, so a 3D map is necessary.
Looking at the Map’s three dimensional display, I feel that this place looks less like a dungeon, and more like the inside of an anthill. Branching, tree-like paths leading to chambers, which themselves lead to even more branching paths.
Taking a rough survey, I find that there are a hundred fifty-nine people in the dungeon, of which there are seven demi-humans and a hundred fifty-two humans; a quarter of the total are slaves. The riot suppression squadron had about fifty members, now separated in three places.
I do wish they would come here actually.
Personally, I wouldn’t want such a talented person to die here, but even if I leave him alone, he looks like he can survive. It would be great if I do run into him though
Also, the Eyeball Demon can’t be found by searching. There’s a conspicuous chamber at the deepest part of the dungeon, which makes me wonder if it is there…
The main enemies are insect-type monsters from Level 10 to 20.
There seems to only be one path out of this chamber, so it would be bad if we find ourselves cornered on the way out! Should I give these girls weapons too?
Having made the decision, I walk towards the path, but the three of them quickly catch up in a panic.
“Don’t abandon us! We are willing to do anything!”
“Sir, you can use us as tools, so please bring us along, I beg you.”
I am being desperately begged to stay. Even so, none of them pulled on my clothing. Is it due to their experience as slaves? Or are they trained this way?
“Sorry to have worried you girls, but I was just checking out the path ahead, and won’t abandon you, so relax!”
I do my best to comfort them. Though I feel like they wouldn’t be rea.s.sured even if I say that, it’s better than nothing.
The magic gun is about the size of a handgun, and uses mana as bullets rather than lead. The power can be adjusted as I like, with the smallest shot requiring only one point of mana, an efficient weapon.
Liza is the only one among the three who has a combative skill.
I will serve as the vanguard, and ask Liza to watch for surprise attacks behind us. Liza herself wishes to be at the front, but I still make her stay back.
The lineup is me, Tama, Pochi, then Liza. “Ordering” them preemptively with a serious tone, I forbid them from taking part in combat without my consent. Since they are only Level 2 or 3, if they got too careless and were attacked by a monster, they would die in one hit.
Basically, this is an escort mission.
The path has the same kind of stone walls as the starting point.
The stone pillars are about waist-height, and annoyingly, the light only reaches chest-level, so the ceiling appears pitch-black.
If the path is too dark, we wouldn’t be able to get out of this chamber, but there might be a remedy for that.
“Tama, if you can see something ahead, say it quietly. Pochi, tell me if there is any strange smell or noise. Liza, I’ll let you guard the back, but don’t focus on it too much and and lag behind.”
“Yes nano desu!”
“Yes!”
They still look uneasy, but their answers are firm.
>>> Obtained skill: “Commanding”.
>>> Obtained skill: “Organizing”.
Yeah, probably skills related to organizing parties. They look useful, so I try adding skill points to them.
Upon entering the path, I see signs of an enemy on the Radar, some distance ahead.
“The smell of blood is coming from ahead, nano desu.”
Poking her head out in the dark and sniffing with her nose, Pochi reports to me.
I commend Pochi and pet her head. Though I am treating her like a pet, she is wagging her tail like crazy, so she’s happy right?
Suddenly thinking of this, I take note of the girls’ statuses, and I am a little shocked by the entry for experience, really… This is a game. The experience is shown as a percentage, so I don’t know the exact numbers, but I can tell approximately how much they need for the next level, which is convenient.
I can see light leaking from the chamber ahead.
If I lose too, would I be eaten like that? Even if it seems impossible to lose considering the level difference, I’m not prepared.
The smell of blood, coming from upwind, has crushed my weak heart. It would probably be fine to camp at the first room, waiting for help to come.
“Sir, pardon my insolence. I’m wondering, should we go around the monster as it consumes its victim, or attack it from behind?”
Liza speaks wearily. Even Liza is afraid, and her limbs are trembling slightly.
I still can’t fight it up close, so let’s snipe it with the magic gun from afar! If I use the magic gun that can shatter rocks at full power, that large monster can be defeated right?
The first shot missed, but the monster insect didn’t seem to notice the attempt on its life. Just like when I had fired at rocks, I didn’t obtain a shooting skill.
With the power set to maximum, the hind leg that was struck explodes at the joint. Without letting it get closer, I keep firing and take down the enormous monster Camelback Cricket.
The concerns I had seem laughable now, in the face of overwhelming victory.
>>> Obtained skill: “Shooting”.
>>> Obtained skill: “Aiming”.
>>> Obtained t.i.tle: “Insect Slayer”.
Sheesh, it’s a large camelback cricket, but it’s showing up outside a desert…
“Super awesome.”
“Strong~”
Thanks to the magic gun, I am being showered with praise.
Pochi and Tama are just excited, while Liza seems to think it’s strange.
“With that strange wand, did you use magic, sir?”
“It’s a magic weapon. Don’t tell anyone!”
Well, just to prevent tattling. Though Liza nods with a strange expression, Pochi and Tama joyfully reply “Yeah!”, so I should remind them again when we get out of the dungeon.
Midway down the severed leg of the camelback cricket, it starts to look less like a rod and more like a spear.
Right, could this become a makes.h.i.+ft spear?
If I leave it at that, the claw at the tip would swivel around, so I take out a plank and a leather belt to secure it. The cut-off end is leaking green fluid, so I recycle a cloth used to wash wounds to tie it up.
>>> Obtained skill: “Dissection”.
>>> Obtained skill: “Teratology3”.
>>> Obtained skill: “Leathercraft”.
>>> Obtained skill: “Woodwork”.
Like always, they are easily obtained.
Using knowledge given by the Entomology, Teratology, and Weapon Crafting skills, I make a cut on the remaining half of the Camelback Cricket leg, and forcefully snap it.
I shave down the spear-like part of the leg with a short sword. This sword is also a magic item, and it’s very sharp, more so than the weapons that soldiers use.
By putting together the freshly exposed surfaces of live tissue when binding, they will fuse thanks to the monster’s ability to regenerate. Does this work even when the monster is dead? I feel skeptical, but when I applied it as directed by my skills, they really fused together.
It feels like I’m fooling around, but since the result is a spear loads better than the first attempt, let’s go with it!
…Is she hungry?
“Liza, you’ll get a stomachache from eating that!”
“Tha-, that’s not it. The monster has a core, and I’m trying to remove it…”
Core?
“What is a core?”
“A core can be turned into money, and there’s one in every monster. We can exchange for a lot of things with traveling merchants.”
Liza’s answer is a little different from what I wanted to hear. Maybe I shouldn’t have expected a Wikipedia-level answer.
I take out a linen bag from my bag, and give it to Liza on her way back. I also give her a piece of cloth, so she can wipe the blood off of herself.
“Put the core into this bag, and take this spear.”
I let Pochi hold the bag, and give the Camelback Cricket Spear to Liza, while the short sword she had is pa.s.sed to Tama. Exchanging equipment, this is exactly like an RPG.
Right, why not use this to break it?
I break Pochi and Tama’s chains the same way… Did I scare them? Their ears are drooping, so I tell them “Sorry” apologetically and caress their heads.
I put the broken chains into a bag, and give it to Pochi to keep with the bag for cores.
“Liza, starting with the next enemy, I will let Pochi and Tama take turns removing the core, so tell them the location and the method.”
“Understood~, nano desu.”
“Yea~”
Being motivated is better than anything.
Also, I got a bit curious, so I ask Pochi:
“Right, Pochi.”
“You don’t have to force yourself to say ‘nano desu’, you know?”
“If I don’t add ‘nano desu’ I’ll be punished, nano desu.”
I see, is she saying it because she thinks it’s proper? I’m only their temporary owner, so it’s fine if I don’t correct it right?
“I understand, but I won’t be angry if you don’t add it, so just talk how you like.”
“Yes…nano desu.”
Putting my hands together in front of the victim of the Camelback Cricket and praying “Namo…”4 for them to rest in peace, I leave the chamber. I note the name of the deceased though.
So they won’t gain experience just standing next to me? The percentage of their experience shows no change.
If the level of these three can increase somewhat, when running into others on the way out, I can hide my own strength, but it doesn’t seem to be that easy.
If this works like a game, why not play it like one?
“Tama, if there are rocks about the size of a Core, pick one up.”
“Yea!”
The road ahead has a fork, and although they lead to the same place, one side has a chamber in the middle. Both sides have monsters, but after two Level 10 Caterpillars on the side with the chamber, there is a survivor.
…Do we save them?
“The road split~, meow.”
Just as the fork enters her view, Tama immediately reports. She didn’t have to use a strange sentence ending for character.
Pochi look a little envious of her, so I also pat her head.
Their heads come up to my chest level, which make them easy to pet, so they’re about 110 cm tall? Liza is taller than I am—165 cm or so.
“Let’s go right!”
We advance into the path. Judging from the Radar, those things should be visible now right?
“Bugs up there—nano desu.”
Tama warns. Imitating Pochi this time?
…Oh, I have an idea. I’m not sure if it will work, but let’s try.
Next, the names and levels of the monsters pop up on the AR.
One shot connects, and a Catepillar falls down with a “splat”.
“Tama, throw rocks at it.”
Tama makes three throws, two of which bounce off after landing on the Caterpillar, while only one does damage.
The Caterpillar slowly inches closer.
“Pochi, Tama, get back. Liza, up front. Just once, attack that thing from behind me!”
Kicking as light as I could, I deflect the Caterpillar’s tackle, and make an opening. I must say, it feels like kicking a dodgeball.
Having confirmed that, I fire the magic gun several times, putting down the Caterpillar.
I just noticed, unlike back at the Dragon’s Canyon, the remains of defeated monsters aren’t automatically collected in Storage.
“Liza, Tama, I’ll let you recover the core. Pochi, follow me, there’s one more ahead.”
Tama pa.s.ses Pochi a rock from a mountain of them. Tama…how many did you pick up?
There are also the bodies of a young woman and a slave-looking young boy. Unlike the Camelback Cricket’s victim, they have not been munched on.
“Pochi, go inside then throw rocks from the side, and once you run out of rocks go back to Liza and Tama.”
I casually stroll into the chamber, and start shooting with the magic gun.
Pochi’s predicament sends a chill down my spine, but I quickly lunge forward and kick the Caterpillar on the side of its head, deflecting the shot. I used more force than intended, and the kick crushes the Caterpillar’s head, taking it down. The sensation on my foot felt a bit disgusting.
Specifically, the path opposite the one we came from.
She probably mixed them up in confusion.
“Pochi, stop!”
I immediately go after her, but having to go around the Caterpillar, I was one step late.
“NOO~GET AWAY, GET AWAY~!”
Huh? Who’s that? It’s not Pochi’s voice. It’s the man in the path ahead!
Looking at the Radar, he’s in a bad spot.
“Pochi, stop!”
I catch up to her, picking her up by the nape.
Hmm, why did that man run?
Or did he feel guilty for the Caterpillar’s victims in that chamber…
Regardless, this dungeon is more dangerous than I thought, and if I’m not more careful about the safety of these kids, it’s no good.
“Sir! Are you alright!”
“Alright~?”
Liza and Tama run up hurriedly.
“Yeah, I’m fine, you can go back to the chamber and recover the core!”
Pochi apologizes with drooping ears, while her tail is tucked between her legs. I’m not mad at Pochi’s mistake, but she might be in danger if she panics again, so is it better to scold her a little?
“Pochi, when it becomes dangerous like that, it’s fine to run. But you can’t panic, got that?”
I pat her head hanging down despondently, comforting her.
>>> t.i.tle obtained: “Trainer”.
How rude, calling it training. It’s just education.
I take note of the name of the three deceased people, while feeling conflicted about whether to check the bodies for anything useful. I don’t have the resolve to touch the bodies no matter what, and as I am hesitating, Liza notices and directs Pochi to do so.
“Strip the clothing too?”
“Take the shoes, but leave the clothing.”
Pochi is asking, but do we even need the clothes? I ordered her to take the shoes only because I now realize the beastgirls aren’t wearing any.
I create a folder for things victims had on them in Storage, and one with the woman’s name under that, then place those items inside. If she has family, I’ll give those to them. Suddenly thinking of it, I also cut a lock of hair from those two and add them to the folder.
The more resilient Liza will have to wait. Since in the chamber with a giant snake ahead, there should be shoes left behind by the young man, so she shouldn’t wait long.
It seems like whenever they gain a level, they automatically learn skills. Pochi obtained “Throwing”, Tama “Collecting”, and Liza “Dissecting”.
The Long Spear skill is shown in white, but Dissect is in gray. Pochi and Tama’s skills are also gray.
There are still more than a hundred rooms before the exit anyway, so one step at a time.
I lead the beastgirls to the next chamber.
We pa.s.sed six rooms after that, but didn’t see anyone alive. There were many corpses though.
“Goshujin-sama, the cores have been recovered.”
“Alright, then take a break.”
I take a drink from the waterskin, and pa.s.s it to Liza.
Liza tries to pull out the stopper on the waterskin but drops it instead, and water pours out from it, forming a puddle.
“Ple-, please forgive me! Goshujin-sama!”
Liza desperately tries to pick up the waterskin. Her movements appear dull.
That reminds me, in the last battle, the accuracy of Pochi and Tama’s throws were pretty low!
“Tired?”
“Please forgive me! I spilled precious water, so please punish me. Anything is fine.”
What an overreaction—no, Liza really seems to think it was a grave error.
Enough about that, I should really check on their health.
“Liza, we can just collect more water later. More importantly, how are you feeling?”
“Please forgive me, but my body has been feeling heavy, and I can’t move with accuracy.”
Seemingly without even the strength to take a drink, Pochi and Tama fall to the ground.
“Then not just a break, let’s rest for a while.”
I pick up Pochi and Tama, and let them drink water.
I picked this out because it looks relatively more palatable than the other non-perishable foodstuff in the loot from the beginning. It’s made from the meat of Sky Deer which I have never heard of, but at least it is some sort of deer.
I’m losing these three to drowsiness. But were they very hungry? Once I put the jerky in front of them, they start wolfing it down like they might accidentally bite their fingers.
“So tasty~?”
“Ahh, this jerky. The sweet taste is spreading in my mouth when I bite down, so satisfying.”
Um, I didn’t think it was that delicious.
“Jerky? Tasty~”
There are dozens of kilograms of jerky, so I give them good portions.
“When you finish, sleep for three hours.”
With seemingly satisfied expressions, Pochi and Tama scrunch up next to me and fall asleep. Liza sits down where she can watch over the two.
“Allow me to keep watch.”
Liza proposes, but she is totally dozing off. I again order her to sleep, and she finally relaxes and lies down to take a nap.
An hour and a half after they began resting, the originally gray skills turn white.
The process is almost exactly like a certain cla.s.sic dungeon game, where fatigue always increases outside of the barn, which worries me.6
Anyways, how come these three gained skills only by leveling up? Gaining skills immediately based on some action like me, is such a thing unusual?
We have advanced through several more chambers. When we rested last time, it was at the point of exhaustion after gaining three levels, so we should take another break after two more chambers.
“Stop!”
How rare for Tama not to drag out her words when she warns us.
But there aren’t any enemies?
“What is it?”
“The ground~ is weird?”
The answer is a question. Something is weird, but I don’t know what that something is, you know? I stare intently, and the ground does seem to hold some secret.
It’s a dungeon after all, and traps should be a given. We haven’t encountered one so far though, so I had forgotten about them.
“Yea!”
As I caress Tama’s head and cat ears, I warn Pochi and Liza with the latter half of my sentence.
Since the active area isn’t shown, so I’m not sure whether it’s safe to go around. Letting one of the beastgirls test it is out of the question.
It reacts to life signs, so could I bait it with monsters?
Taking some rocks from Tama, I toss three of them in succession.
“Rats coming～”
Hearing Tama’s report, I make the three stand back. These rats are only Level 10 and fairly weak, but they act in groups of two to four. There could be a few that make it through the trap, so I put some distance between us.
Rather than being caught by some mechanism, these rats are trapped by black sparks. In the end, all three rats fell for the trap, so it seems like there were at least three traps in this path.
>>> Obtained skill: “Trap Disarming”.
>>> Obtained skill: “Trap Discovery”.
There are various trap-related skills and they all look useful, so I quickly add skill points and enable them.
Liza thrusts at the giant frog with all of her strength.
Pochi distracts it by attacking with a stick from one side, while Tama deals the finis.h.i.+ng strike from the other by stabbing her short sword into the frog’s eye.
“Great! Good job!”
“Yea~”
The opponent was only Level 10, and only had Tongue Binding as its only special attack, so I let them confront it themselves, and the fight went smoothly. Like I expected, beastpeople have better combat potential than humans of the same level!
There is a house at the end of this hall, or more accurately a house split into two even halves. It was probably sucked in when the dungeon was created! There are unfortunately no sign of people on the Radar.
Is it Liza’s turn this time? Since it’s a matter of skill proficiency, I let them take turns with their roles.
“Pochi, Tama, we’ll check out that house, follow me.”
I made sure on the Map that there aren’t any enemies nearby, so no need to stand guard! I bring the two of them to the house.
Upon entering, the lighting automatically turns on. Is it magic? Seems like I can remove them, so I take one bulb down, which soon extinguishes. It’s probably meant for indoor use only.
In some cliché development, I find a hidden safe behind a painting on the wall. I destroy the lock with the magic gun, open it, and check inside. Other than jewels and bags of gold coins, there is also an amount of some magical ingredient loaded into vials.
Confirming my hypothesis, we find several bottle of magical potions somewhere else, so there’s no doubt.
I don’t know how to use the scroll, but there seems to be an explanation in one of the books next to it. When the beastgirls take their rest, I’ll peruse them and search for the method!
Only the stands remain of two preserved specimens on display.
Though it’s none of my business, they’re in maintenance right? I would really like to see specimens of fantastic creatures.
>>> Skill obtained: “Excavation”.
>>> Skill obtained: “Locked Chest Picking”.
I find a magical lighter in the kitchen. It’s the only magic item here, but I also take a pan, a pot, and utensils for four loaded into a linen bag.
As for numerous beer-bottle sized clay pots, I pour in oil into them for makes.h.i.+ft Molotov c.o.c.ktails, and keep them in Storage.
“Here, it smells like jerky! Nano desu—”
Pochi announces in a sing-song voice, so I go to her. I see a closet full of food beyond a pile of toppled furniture, while Pochi and Tama are peeking their heads between the gaps.
Inside the food closet, we uncover three loaves of rye bread, cheese, and smoked meat. There are also barrels of what seems to be high quality wine, which I stash away in Storage while the two are distracted by the meat.
“Pochi, Tama, do you want a taste?”
“Yes nano desu!”
Having confirmed that they have not spoiled on the AR, I cut slices of cheese and smoked meat then pa.s.s them to Pochi and Tama.
“Delicioucious~”
“Nom~ So good, so fulfilling nano desu!”
Do Pochi and Tama think wagging their tails isn’t sufficient? They’re even waving their hands clutching food to express their joy.
I also try a slice of cheese. It’s good, with a nice cheddar-like sharpness.
“Share the rest with Liza!”
“That’s right nano desu! Liza should eat it too!”
I give the bag of food to Tama, and the one with weapons and other things to Pochi, while I hold the water jar and a tub. Those two and I return to the hall where Liza is waiting.
When we come out, the core recovery has been finished, and Liza was planning on joining us.
“Goshujin-sama, I have a request… May I build a fire?”
Liza is proactively making the request, so I ask for a reason.
“I want to grill that frog’s meat… Sorry.”
“Yes, definitely. In the past, I had similar large frogs for food, and though the entrails are poisonous, those parts can be avoided. If it’s not cooked first, there’s a bigger chance of poison, so…”
After squirming for a bit, Liza answers.
Despite being underground, air is flowing, and we’re much closer to the surface now, so no need to worry about running out of air.
“Alright, I will allow it.”
Liza directs Pochi and Tama to cut up the frog leg, while she takes out pieces of wood and starts laying them down. I see, did she collect all the wood she found on the way for this purpose?
With magical lighter like this, there’s no way to investigate the mechanism, but it seems to be designed to be used by anyone.
Soon enough, Pochi and Tama return with the leg meat raised above their heads.
“Meat~”
“Nano desu~”
They look more thrilled about this than the smoked meat. Are their feral instincts at work?
First she uses the fatty parts to grease the pan, then after removing the fat, she fries the meat. A fragrance like chicken grilling pervades, which smells appetizing if I didn’t know anything.
Soon, the frog meat is ready, and Liza stabs a slice on a stick, and extends it to me.
Knew it, I have to eat this? I have to—
“Thank you, Liza.”
I steel myself and bite down—It tastes light like chicken, well, too light, actually. Man, should I sprinkle some salt? It’s too much trouble to go back to the house to look for spices, so I try searching the Storage, but there isn’t even pepper.
Right, waiting for my permission?
“Stop looking and eat. If you don’t eat well and rest, you won’t last long enough to get out of the dungeon!”
Having gotten permission, Pochi and Tama start eating slices from the pan. Liza is also eating while she cooks. Are there slices with bone mixed in? They’re making scary crunching sounds, but everyone seems to be enjoying it.
No, even if it tastes okay, frog meat is a little…
Following Liza’s suggestion, I wrap a piece of meat up in a cloth to go as a precaution.
I let the three wash up in the tub I brought, and have them change into clean clothes found in the house before sleeping.
They seem to have gotten used to me now. Pochi and Tama are using my knees as pillows to sleep, and while Liza probably wouldn’t be willing to use me as support, she is huddled up next to me.
Immediately when I view the spellbooks in Storage, a new option called “Browse” appears, and I select it. Just like in a game, I can browse the contents of a book that’s still kept inside Storage.
What if—I do a search in a flash of inspiration, and just like in a game, it turns out that the text of a book I open can be searched. So convenient! I don’t even need OCR7!
According to it, I can use a scroll just by unraveling it and announcing the name of the spell.
Thanks to the discovery, while everyone slept, I can kill time while reading.
After resting once more, we were able to traverse eight-tenths of the way to the dungeon exit.
Those are the only changes in equipment, but all three of them have gotten to Level 13. Pochi gained the skills “One-Handed Sword”, “Throwing”, “Enemy Detection”, and “Dissection”; Tama “One-Handed Sword”, “Throwing”, “Collecting”, and “Dissection”; and Liza “Long Spear”, “Spear Thrust”, “Cooking”, and “Dissection”.
Outside of enemies with status affliction attacks, these three can defeat even enemies five levels higher by working together. Since they have no one to serve as the tank, it would be dangerous to go up against multiple enemies that aren’t about the same level, but that shouldn’t happen much.
Since I have the chance, I try out the Fire Magic scroll.
Striking the slime, the fireball merely burns a little goo at the surface before vanis.h.i.+ng, and checking the slime’s health bar, I only see a slight drop. Against a Level 10 slime, this is of no use.
In addition, Fireball has been added to the list of usable spells.
Perhaps thinking that I am upset, Liza makes a suggestion.
“Goshujin-sama, pardon my insolence, but when attacking a slime, you have to aim for its nucleus.”
“The nucleus is where the color is slightly different.”
Is it different from a core? Speaking of which, despite being translucent, no red core is visible, so is it not a monster?
Anyway, I look carefully at the spot Liza is pointing toward, and there really is a darker spot about half the size of my fist.
“By attacking a slime’s nucleus—”
As we are casually talking, Liza, with just one stab of her spear, defeats the slime that was slowly wiggling closer.
“—it can be defeated easily like this.”
“It shrunk and melted nano desu.”
Pochi and Tama were eager to fight the slime, so they are disappointed about not getting a chance. Actually, Pochi just seems to be sad that the slime turned into water, and now she’s poking at the puddle with her short sword.
By the way, ever since the second-to-last break, we never found any more bodies, not to mention survivors. The larger groups are still there, but some smaller groups are gone, probably done in by monsters.
“That wall—is weird?”
Tama finds an odd-looking part of the wall.
Hmm, something’s weird. I rotate the Map, trying to get a bird’s eye view.
If this were a game, it would be a shortcut that leads to a place deeper down.
It’s dangerous to haphazardly get close, so I have Tama mark it with charcoal.
There’s a four-way intersection after this chamber, and the path directly ahead leads to a chamber with three survivors. Since they were there since our break an hour ago, they’re probably hiding out in a safe zone.
There are only five more rooms to the exit, but they wouldn’t know without a map, so they probably thought they were stuck.
“Everyone stop!”
Displayed as a red dot on the Radar, an enemy approaches with alarming speed. There’s only one, so let’s confront it in the previous chamber!
Undead Beast, an undead-type monster. Weakness: Holy attribute. Its skills are Vertical Movement and Charge.
I am surprised after continuing to read its data.
“It’s Level 40…?”
It’s stronger than any enemy seen so far, is it the dungeon’s sweeper?
With me rus.h.i.+ng the three, we manage to arrive at the room before confronting the enemy. I make them hide in the corner. This thing is no joke, they would be destroyed in a second if I let them fight.
—The Undead Beast vanishes from my sight.
From above! By bouncing off the ceiling after jumping, it’s going to tackle me!
Also, despite being an undead monster, it’s way too fast! If I allow it to bounce around as it like, I wouldn’t be able to protect the beastgirls. I grab its legs tightly.
Does the Undead Beast not have a sense of pain? Even though I am crus.h.i.+ng its legs, it is trying to bite me like nothing is wrong.
I dig my foot into its abdomen, then with a tomoe nage10, I throw it at the wall.
The Trap Abuse skill saves the day.
Alright, isn’t it time to meet up with the survivors?
As soon as we pa.s.s the intersection, the ground becomes covered with sticky white thread.
“Sticky sticky~”
“Is it spider thread?”
The spider thread becomes denser the closer we get to the chamber, so I have Pochi and Tama help clear it with their short swords
As we approach the coc.o.o.ns, seemingly detecting our presence, the people inside start struggling.
Nidoren. Slave trader, forty years old, Level 10, with the skills “Negotiation”, “Training”, and “Calculation”.
Lastly, a young man with no job, Level 3, no skills. Maybe a NEET?
Anyway, I decide to split up the work to free them. I save the viscount, Liza the merchant, and Pochi and Tama the young man.
When we are halfway done peeling the coc.o.o.n off their victims, the radar catches the sign of the spider approaching from below. There seems to be holes like the one that swallowed the Undead Beast earlier.
“Enemy’s here! Pochi, Tama, Liza, pause the rescue for now, get ready to fight!”
The beast girls quickly take out their weapons and and get in formation. Thanks to surviving fight after fight, they have gotten used to working together.
The spider crawls out of a hole in the ground.
If it would die after the first rush, that would be great. But it still lives even after having its head pierced, as expected of a monster.
Seems like this will take a while, so I quietly flick a coin through its heart for the finis.h.i.+ng blow.
Tama goes to recover the core, and the rest of us go back to rescuing.
“You were a huge help. I am Viscount Jin Belton, head of the Belton House that has been established since the time of Our Founder Yamato. If we can escape from here, I won’t hold back on your reward!”
“Thank you, Lord Viscount, I am Satou, a traveling merchant.”
As we finished our introductions, I have also completed the Viscount’s rescue. I give the waterskin to the viscount, then go help the others.
“Thank you for saving me. I am Nidoren, a merchant. The ladies might hold some opinion against me, as I am in the slave trade.”
“A traveling merchant? I thought for sure you were an adventurer.”
While giving Nidoren some water, I ask:
“This is the first time I’ve heard of the adventurer profession, what do they do?”
“Well…ahh! Don’t they call them ‘Explorers’ in s.h.i.+ga Kingdom? They defeat monsters in dungeons, and collect Cores and treasures, quite a profitable yet deadly career!”
I see, so there are game-like professions?
“Humph, don’t touch me, beastwoman. Give me that short sword, I’ll do it myself!”
“What! You mere beastwoman dare defy me!”
Pochi is being hara.s.sed by the young man she’s trying to save, so I go help her.
Hmph, what a conceited guy. I remember that blond hair, so he’s the guy who kicked the lumber-carrying Pochi on the eastside before.
“Pochi, come.”
“Yes nano desu.”
I hug Pochi who has gotten teary from being scolded, and caress her head. She is nuzzling her face on my belly, which feels tickly, but I’ll let her be!
“Hey! Get me out quick!”
“Sorry, don’t want to. You can just stay there and get eaten by a monster. You already have a free hand, so just get out yourself!”
Of course, I am not serious. Just scaring him a little
You made Pochi cry, so I’ll have you try being scared s.h.i.+tless.
“Hey! Cut it out! Get me out quick!”
“Silence, commoner. If your blabbering attracts any monsters, I’ll turn you into charcoal, and even your bones will be cinder when I’m done.”
Viscount Belton further admonishes the arrogant young man who doesn’t know his place.
The task of cutting loose the now-silenced young man, falls to Nidoren. He nimbly uses his own thin short sword to cut the threads. In the middle of doing so, he whispers something in the young man’s ear, who then tones down his mumbling.
As I admire him, I receive the recovered red core from Tama.
“The cores here have high quality! Ones as red as these don’t show up on the market often.”
According to Nidoren, cores are used in the construction of magic tools. The better the core, the more efficiently it converts mana, and high quality magic tools can be made with it.
Though the Viscount complains about the simple food, he eats it all, perhaps too hungry to resist.
In the end, I must admit, I was being too optimistic.
“I can’t waste my spells on smallfry like this. My magic is reserved for strong enemies.”
“I can at least defend myself, but don’t count on me for combat.”
The Viscount finds some reason not to use magic, and Nidoren also declares himself a non-combatant. Both of them have excuses, and don’t partic.i.p.ate in the fights.
Actually, the young man is frustrating me more. Seems like after getting a bronze short sword and buckler, he has become too excited—
“Hey! If the beastkids can fight, I’ll be even better! Something like that spider, I’ll beat them till they beg for mercy!”
—And so he declares, attacking a monster, but is almost effortlessly cut down by his opponent.
The enemy is only a Level 10 Skeleton Soldier, and before it can deal a death blow, Pochi intervenes and blocks the Skeleton Soldier’s baton, saving the young man.
“Liza, if you would.”
“Yes.”
Acknowledging my order, Liza brandishes her spear. The first strike breaks the Skeleton Soldier’s stance, the second shatters it’s sword arm, and the third destroys its skull.
Anyway, it’s the first time I see skeletal monsters, but how do they move? Is the core their source of power?
To look after the young man groaning on the ground, I ask Nidoren.
“You alright?”
“You might have broken ribs.”
I ignore the cursing young man, and get a prognosis from the slave trader. With broken ribs, isn’t it better not to move him? But what do we do then?
“Ow! Will I die like this?”
“If Pochi didn’t help, you would have died on the spot with a staff strike to your brain.”
Toward his savior Pochi, he hasn’t said a word of grat.i.tude, not to mention apology for before. I don’t plan on tolerating his cowardice.
“d.a.m.n! d.a.m.n! d.a.m.n! I will survive. How can I die here?”
While spitting out blood, the young man spitefully complains.
“Hmph, abandon him if he can’t walk himself! It’s more important to meet up with the riot suppression squad right now. Commoner, the consequence of foolhardiness is death. He did this to himself, leave him!”
Whoa, the Viscount is ruthless! Unlike me, he’s being serious.
Pochi and Tama are looking up at me with “Let’s help him” faces, so I have no choice but to do something.
“Use this medicine.”
“It’s a potion.”
“A potion!”
I don’t understand why he’s so shocked at the mention of potions. This was found at the supposed alchemist’s secret stash house, I can’t guarantee the effectiveness.
The young man carefully swallows th